Ferrari need four to five races to assess title chances

Michelle Foster
Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc celebrate. Bahrain March 2022

Ferrari team-mates Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc celebrate the 1-2 result on the podium. Bahrain March 2022

Smiling after Ferrari’s 1-2 in Bahrain, Mattia Binotto is going to wait “four or five races” before assessing their title chances.

After two years of pain, Ferrari returned to the top step of the podium at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix with Charles Leclerc taking the victory. Even better for Ferrari, he took the chequered flag ahead of his team-mate Carlos Sainz.

Embroiled in an engine scandal back in 2019, Ferrari were hamstrung the following season when they were slapped with a power deficit by the FIA.

The team made strides forward in their recovery last year, introducing a new power unit midway through the championship that helped them secure P3 despite a second successive season without a race win.

But while Red Bull and Mercedes fought for the World title, Ferrari devoted their full attention to 2022 and its all-new ground effect aerodynamic cars.

It is a gamble that looks to have paid off, at least if Bahrain is anything to go by.

Leclerc clinched pole position and led from lights to flag to secure Ferrari’s first win since 2019, Sainz making it their first 1-2 since that year’s Singapore Grand Prix.

But whether Sunday’s result means Ferrari are genuine title contenders, team boss Binotto is holding back on that one for now.

“I think that the others are very, very strong,” he told The Race.

“They have proved to be very strong in qualifying. It was really a matter of details.

“I think today it could have been so good, but maybe they had some reliability issues or something that is not perfect on their car for what we may understand from the radio communications. And they would have been very fast otherwise.

“And if I look at the first stint of Max, on used tyres, he was keeping the pace of Charles.

“So I think we should not forget this was one of the World Champions. They are still the favourites.

“What we can try to do is to do our best. Jeddah in a week’s time can be a completely different picture and I think we need to wait at least four or five races before to assess.

“To answer your question, I would wait four or five races.”

Sunday’s result ended a 46-race drought for the Scuderia but it was one that briefly looked uncertain when Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri caught fire, the Frenchman stopping on the side of the track.

That brought out the Safety Car with Leclerc the only driver in the top five on old tyres, Ferrari having opted not pit the Monégasque driver when Max Verstappen came in for a third stop.

But with the Safety Car on the track, Ferrari quickly pulled him in, Leclerc coming back out in first place.

Binotto explained why Ferrari didn’t cover Verstappen’s third stop saying Ferrari saw that they had “enough margin to consolidate the position.

 

“He was managing the tyres well, the medium was working well. And we saw that an extra pitstop would have been an extra risk.

“Certainly we will discuss with the team whether that was the right decision or not. But we were comfortably ahead and that’s why we decided to stay out.”

Leclerc pulled away from Verstappen at the restart with the Red Bull driver retiring shortly after, elevating Sainz to P2.

 

Ferrari are back and mean business

Ferrari had a great weekend at the Bahrain GP with their first 1-2 finish since 2019.